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Spooky Season Is Here! Halloween Event Deep Dive
105 Plays9 days ago
September means it’s officially spooky season!! (Unless you’re Disney, then it’s August.) But, we’re joined by our friend Kelli—who knows way more about HHN than all of us combined—to talk all things spooky season at parks! What makes a good park halloween events, what events we’ve been to, and those little creative touches that make a huge difference in the guest experience. Plus a couple trips recaps, a couple rants, a roast of an opening, and more!
Thrill Chills and Spills Podcast: tinyurl.com/TCASSpotify
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Transcript
Introductions and String Cheese Incident
00:00:00
Speaker
You are listening to the Inverted Creative Podcast. I'm Allison. I'm Bryant. And I'm Jen.
00:00:17
Speaker
Bryant, you are very lucky you did not have to witness what Jen and I witnessed before you hopped on this recording. Yeah, I was a little bit disgusted. I'm offended.
00:00:27
Speaker
Yeah, offended, disgusted, everything. So we we have a special guest with us today who came on here, one, struggled to open a thing of string cheese, and then proceeded to just take a bite out of it.
00:00:41
Speaker
Oh! no Did not st string it, just chomped it down. Yeah, and just the entire thing like that. She didn't string it at all. Oh my god. It's a crime. Go to jail.
00:00:55
Speaker
Hi Kelly. Welcome to the podcast. Hi, thanks for having me. Can I defend myself? ah No. Wow, what an intro. um Okay, so here's the thing.
00:01:07
Speaker
When I'm really hungry for a mozzarella cheese stick and I like peel it as it's meant to be eaten, I feel like I'm not putting anything in my mouth. It's so thin I can't even taste it. So I need to just take a bite like it is, i don't know, how ah beef jerky.
00:01:24
Speaker
like That's how I have to eat my string cheese to enjoy it to its fullest. It tastes better when it's stringed. like Oh my god, I know. I have a very unpopular opinion in this. I know. I've been told many times in my life, but I will continue to eat it this way. And my children also eat it this way.
00:01:45
Speaker
Okay, passing it on to your children is the bigger crime here. I know. I know. I'm just raising all kinds of... Bad habits, I guess.
Kelly's Podcast and Spooky Expertise
00:01:58
Speaker
No, we we are very excited to have Kelly here with us for our ah spooky season deep dive. And I very specifically wanted Kelly to join us for this episode because she is the queen of spooky and planning spooky events.
00:02:11
Speaker
I'm so honored. um Kelly is actually the only reason that I've been to Halloween Horror Nights. Thanks for the trip that we did a couple years ago. couple years ago.
00:02:21
Speaker
Gosh. Yeah. Yeah. It was my first and only time to Halloween Horror Nights and I don't know when I'll be back. ah We'll go into that. um But first of all, I know you recently started a podcast kind of themed to all things spooky. do you want to plug yourself there?
00:02:38
Speaker
Sure, I sure do. um So myself and three of my best friends... um Joey, Tyler, and Rafa. We have a podcast podcast called Thrills, Chills, and Spills.
00:02:51
Speaker
And we started it kind of just as a spinoff from the Drunk Riders podcast after Halloween Horror Nights last year, kind of as a review. and then we had such a great time that we...
00:03:05
Speaker
started talking about um just like seasonal events at parks in general. And it's kind of, we're still kind of trying to find like what are our niches? I guess it's really just talking about special events and like what what other things go on at parks than just, you know, coasters.
Podcasting Insights and Spooky Traditions
00:03:23
Speaker
And we definitely focus a lot on spooky season. We talk about HHN basically all year, but Um, some other spooky events and some other seasonal things, holiday stuff. We did some Mardi Gras stuff.
00:03:35
Speaker
So we're coming up on almost a year, but we initially were only doing monthly episodes. where We're recording a little more frequently now. So it's been fun. It kind of just feels like sitting and chatting with, um, your friends and you guys are pretty conversational too. And I've listened, similar type of type of feel, I think, um,
00:03:56
Speaker
You guys are probably a little more professional than we are, but um it's really fun. It's kind of just like sitting down to hang out with your friends and then like a couple people listen to us. We're working on upping our social media game so that we can gain a little bit more of ah a listener ship.
00:04:15
Speaker
But yeah, it's been great. Thrills, chills and spills. Heck yeah. We're so professional. I'm just here on like a three year old Batman T-shirt right now. Half asleep.
00:04:26
Speaker
and even nobody knew that until right now that everybody i just i like to paint a picture every now and yeah yeah yeah there was that one episode where i was like laying on my bed like physically laying down because i didn't feel very good and i was just like on my side and i turned my camera on and i'm just like laying see you never know and allison a couple episodes oh never mind anyway um yeah about that one oh we have ideas for maybe yeah we got some some things in the works because our one year anniversary is next month yeah when was our official first like episode release october or something yeah october oh okay okay yeah so about a month and a half it's almost here i have plans for that episode i should probably let y'all in on
00:05:16
Speaker
Some of those ideas. Maybe. That's fine. That's like six weeks away. You've got plenty of time. You don't know me. and like I do.
00:05:27
Speaker
i mean If you switch over to the ah second tab in the spreadsheet that I sent you, you see every single episode we've done. and have a second tab? How about that? There's a tab?
00:05:39
Speaker
I knew about that. don't know who Jen knew about it. did not know about the planning section of this. yeah Also, can I do an old man rant that on September 2nd? At least that's when we're recording. It's too early for spooky season.
00:05:54
Speaker
Summer descended. Hot take. Kelly, when did you put your fall decorations up in your house? Yeah. Okay. So typically announce that spooky season has begun after Labor Day. So like today would be the start of spooky season. Typically.
00:06:09
Speaker
But this year I was feeling like really inspired. I'm going to HHN soon. My kids love spooky season too. So they asked if we could decorate like three weeks ago. and I sure did for Halloween.
00:06:20
Speaker
So it's been spooky season for me for a little while. I will say I would rather people start spooky season in September than people who start Christmas on November first Oh, no. Oh, no. Give me Christmas in November 1st.
00:06:35
Speaker
Oh, yeah. I'm Christmas in November. Yeah, I'm really conflicted on that one because, like, Thanksgiving is still fall vibes. So I want, like, the oranges in my house. But, like, also, it's I have so much cute Christmas stuff that I don't want it to be out for 25 days.
00:06:51
Speaker
Yeah. um So this is when you got to take a note from Europa Park. Big shock, guys. I'm bringing up Europa Park. Europa Park does a, like, I wish I could remember what they call it. It's like a fall. I think it's Hallowinter. Yeah, Hallowinter. Transitional.
00:07:08
Speaker
Yeah. Throw it back. That is nice. Throw it all up. Just do both of them. I do plan to do that this year. Remove a little bit of the Halloween, but keep the fall and start to introduce a little bit of the Christmas, maybe.
00:07:20
Speaker
Yeah. little crossover situation. Is that is that fair, Bryant? That's very fair. Okay. I think for me, just living in New England and how much I hate winter, is that as soon as you say spooky season, I start to think cold.
00:07:33
Speaker
So if you add two seats two months of spooky season, two months of Christmas, that's four months you're thinking about cold. And then when New Year's Day hits, you're like, oh, I'm ready for summer. No, no, you still get three months of actual.
00:07:46
Speaker
That's when it's really cold. Those are the dark months, the gray months, I call them. Yes. Where there's no holidays, there's nothing happy. It's just gray and dark and miserable. And and parks are aren't really open unless you go to like Texas or California or Florida.
00:08:01
Speaker
depressing the worst depressing it's a bad time of year but that's like in now if we're already thinking about halloween i'm thinking about january already which i don't want yeah yeah i get that yeah not know allison doesn't really know what a true winter is yet so it snowed a lot last year thank a lot like 20 inches I saw 12 inches of snow for the first time in my life Wow.
00:08:27
Speaker
Well, aren't you in one of the, this is like, now we're going to get like geography stuff. Aren't you in one of the watersheds? So don't you get more snow than most of Ohio? That's an addy no. I don't know. I don't know. Watershed? what mark and You're thinking of Cleveland, Erie, Buffalo.
00:08:43
Speaker
better yeah i don't know why I was pro in my mind and I know that you're in Cincinnati and you're Vikings Island but in my mind I was just like, oh, theme park in Ohio. You're in Cleveland.
00:08:57
Speaker
We get so much of that lake snow effect or whatever in Cincinnati for sure. yeah That was my assumption. ah All of Ohio is just Cedar Point. It did snow on Halloween last year. There was that.
00:09:12
Speaker
That made me mad. That's depressing. Yeah. We don't like that. We also have gotten trick-or-treaters none since we moved in. so That's kind of sad. I know. So we're probably going to go do something for Halloween this year, but we don't know what.
00:09:27
Speaker
King's Island.
00:09:29
Speaker
No, we talked about going somewhere else, but we don't know where. Honestly, like, segueing to if we are going to talk a little about HHN, I actually went there on Halloween Day last year. Same! No pun intended, but it was dead.
00:09:42
Speaker
hu Wait, you were there too, Kelly? Actually, I think I knew that. Yes. I was there that weekend. Friday and Saturday. Okay.
00:09:52
Speaker
But yeah, like, there was nobody there. so And I think, like, Halloween Day is actually a good time to go to a haunt. Because most people aren't in the parks. and I feel like everyone who has children or just likes to like in a nice community, like they're probably not going to an event like that. They're probably staying home to like spend time with their community.
00:10:12
Speaker
exactly Apparently not in ours. and Also, like, i think that's the worst day of the year. to drive like there's so many people there's so I was about to lose my mind i thought you were gonna say I think that's the worst day of the year period and no felt my blood start to boil up my face no just to drive like there's people out like it's I feel like it's such an unnecessary risk like I don't think anyone should be driving that night fair there's too many kids out walking around running around like too many
00:10:47
Speaker
Yeah, so if I can help it, like pretty much every Halloween, if I can help it, I don't get in my car.
Halloween Concerns and Buzzbars Event
00:10:54
Speaker
Smart. And yeah now you've got all these teenagers trick-or-treating now. They're like way too old to do it. Those, never mind. I'm just going to be an old man this whole episode. Those darn teenagers.
00:11:05
Speaker
listen I trick-or-treated until I was a senior in high school and I wore a costume every year. I put effort in. i hope my kids do it. I'd rather have them do that than a lot of other things they could do. Yeah, that's true.
00:11:18
Speaker
Yeah. Especially modern, the modern teenager.
00:11:25
Speaker
Heck yeah. Oh, shocking. We have trip recaps. So i should say, I think this is the first episode since my injury where I don't have a trip recap. So I can go back to being bitter and angry again.
00:11:38
Speaker
This is fun. Back to old man Brian. Back to old man Brian. Yeah.
00:11:45
Speaker
yeah So since the last time we recorded, um Kelly and I were in Chicago for a quick weekend with the Buzzbars. I did not do much at Great America.
00:11:56
Speaker
Same, team girl. Yeah, it was my third time at the park. So I really just went in to get the cruds that i needed and ride some good rides. Unfortunately, um two of the best rides in the park, in my opinion, were not open. So, yep, that's okay. Okay.
00:12:15
Speaker
Yeah, um as we were working on the itinerary for the event, like I was physically on my laptop working on the itinerary that Kelly had sent me to put on our lanyards was when the Raging Bull closure announcement dropped.
00:12:29
Speaker
So I'm sitting on my laptop and I text Kelly. I'm like, so should I take the Raging Bull group ride off the itinerary? I'm like, just remove it. This is par for the course.
00:12:41
Speaker
Just take it off. But Yeah, it was a fun weekend. It always is. I have come to enjoy even more and more just like the social aspect of being with friends. And I do being at parks. And I think some of that too is just because like I've been to most of the parks now that like in the country that we go to.
00:13:00
Speaker
So um it's fun to not have the stress of trying to get on every cred and like just get to spend some time with friends. agree. Yeah. We had a big old pool party.
00:13:13
Speaker
Took over the pool at the Hampton Inn right by the park.
00:13:18
Speaker
Truly. I partook in things a little too much and did not return to the pool party after a while and then slept for three hours.
00:13:28
Speaker
I love that for you. I love it. it It was good times. You were not alone. But yeah. Yeah.
00:13:39
Speaker
Yeah. Rock Shots was fun. I enjoyed it. Had a little bit of a shuffle. Yeah. I think of the newer dive coasters that have vests.
00:13:53
Speaker
um And the smaller dive coasters, it's probably the best one I've ridden. It actually has like a full layout, as opposed to just like the one trick, two trick, drop, drop ponies with a couple of inversions in there.
00:14:07
Speaker
I think it looks beautiful in the park. It's like very statuesque and picturesque. It's gorgeous on that midway. Yeah, and it it really like looks bigger. It looks like a bigger dive than it is just because it kind of towers over and you get to like walk underneath it.
00:14:21
Speaker
um The paint looks great because it's nice and fresh. I agree. There is a little bit of a shuffle, but it's not it doesn't detract from the ride like some other new B&M's shuffles I agree. Raptor.
00:14:35
Speaker
I think, um I actually had good rides on Raptor. I really enjoyed it. But like, I agree with you. I have seen the shuffle and also like, loved to my home park, but like Iron Menace for how new it is.
00:14:47
Speaker
Oof. um Yeah, there're there is none of that painful jostling in Rakshasa. There was one spot, I don't know if you felt it too, Allison, kind of on like going into the helix where it just felt like the profiling of the turn was a little bit awkward and it kind of was shifty, but it wasn't like,
00:15:05
Speaker
wasn't like painful. I only wrote it once, but. Same. You know, a dive is a dive. You know what to get you're going to get out of it. I i think it it was better than I expected just because I didn't expect very much, but it does have more of a complete layout and it was enjoyable.
00:15:22
Speaker
like agree Oh, and they use the um the same like bin system as Yukon Striker does where it moves around with you. And it's always so interesting. I'm like, oh my gosh, where is it even going? Can I actually put my phone in here? is it going to get to me on the other side? And it always does.
00:15:42
Speaker
You know, i had a moment of that. And the only issue I've had with one of those over the weekend but I will get to that oh no not a bad issue but an open fury it's like delayed yeah they delay it I hate it well no it was um I've been so trustworthy it's more of uh we got sent onto a train earlier than we were supposed to like we put our stuff in and then like they sent us they opened the gates to fill the row and so we got off and then our stuff was not there yet so we kind of awkwardly stood in the station until the next train came in yeah that happened to happen us too well
00:16:16
Speaker
I was going to get a picture of ah our friends on the train that was then behind us, but then we weren't able to. Did you have other creds at um Great America that you needed?
00:16:27
Speaker
um I only needed one other side of American Eagle. And they opened both that day. so I did too. I needed blue. think I needed red. I needed red. Yeah.
00:16:39
Speaker
And then they were stressed because they didn't open blue until a little bit later. Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. I also needed Joker, which was Joker.
00:16:49
Speaker
Yeah. Speaking of Joker, shout out airtime Mike. He was phenomenal. Last episode. I 100% sent him a picture of that, ah of Joker while we were there. I'm like, thinking of buddy. Yeah. yeah And his love of free spins.
00:17:02
Speaker
That was his milestone, I believe, right? um I think it was that one. I think so. I forget already. Insane. Did we ride Goliath? Yes, we did ride Goliath.
00:17:14
Speaker
I rode it twice. I still love Goliath. It's a little short. It's kind of like, it's got Hyperia syndrome for me where it's missing like one more element. It definitely is. I feel like with Hyperia though, like I'm satisfied with the length because of how like intense the layout is. Whereas with Goliath, I'm like, that's seriously it. And now like, if you sit in the even rows, just like with Outlaw Run, how those wheel seats are a little bit rougher. Like I had a row two ride that was like,
00:17:44
Speaker
not comfortable, like not very good. And then I had a ah row 11 ride later in the day, which was very good. But again, it's like, oh, I just did like four elements and now the ride's over. No, don't I just, we have the privilege of having ridden a lot better RMCs. Yeah.
00:18:03
Speaker
Goliath's my weakest non-Raptor RMC.
00:18:10
Speaker
Yeah. it's a me For me as well. It just doesn't look... I always like... i get With all the Goliaths, I never remember which ones were and everything. Yeah, this looks so weak.
00:18:22
Speaker
very Like ah Kelly said, it's just... ah See, for me, it was like my 13th or 14th RMC, which hurt it for me, because it was definitely one of the first ones. You could tell were trying to still figure things out. It's just very short.
00:18:33
Speaker
It doesn't do much. Yeah. It's like an it's like ah an appetizer of ah of a normal RMC. Okay. The stall is still great though. sta's great oh The stall is fantastic.
00:18:45
Speaker
I feel like RMC does a really good stall. I don't think there's many of their stalls that I don't think are really good. They just place them really well in the layout. yeah the yeah Speaking of Goliath, did you ride another Goliath, Allison?
00:19:02
Speaker
I did. I was actually literally just searching on RCAB. I think I have Goliath completion minus New England. But i don't know if that counts. You're lucky you didn't get that one I don't think that counts.
00:19:14
Speaker
You have current completion. I thought I did, and then I forgot about Goliath and Magic Mountain when we were there.
00:19:22
Speaker
Dang, that was closed. Did you guys? This is way off topic. but Did you guys see that? I don't know if anyone knows Jeremy.
00:19:33
Speaker
um He got wooden rollercoaster completion in the United States today. ah I believe that. Yeah. With the wooden coaster at the Wisconsin. No, Washington State Fair.
00:19:45
Speaker
That's impressive. i'm um I was watching his stories and I'm like, what? I'm surprised he actually already hadn't got that because he's been on like five million coasters. so Yeah. i I just thought it was really cool. Like, I feel like getting there are so many wooden coasters that are so hard to get that I was really impressed. I saw it today and I was very excited for him. That's a cool milestone.
00:20:08
Speaker
Yeah. I am now one away from North American B&M completion. whoaho Of all the ones I'm missing, it's Phoenix Rising. no yeah ah don that too but um I will try to do a very quick recap for the weekend trip that we just got back from last night.
Great Escape and La Ronde Park Visits
00:20:29
Speaker
um We are stupid, stupid people. That is a known fact on this podcast. Yes. So after work on Friday, me and Mike and our friends, John, Mike, and Matt loaded up in a car and drove to New York where we didn't get to our hotel until four in the morning um and then woke up and left the hotel by 9 a.m.
00:20:50
Speaker
where we drove to Great Escape. Very cute park. So cute. Underrated. So underrated. i like Is that the one Wildcat? No, Bobcat? Bobcat.
00:21:02
Speaker
ah We gotta get you up there, Jen. It's not that far for you. You would like it. It's super cute. If you like Frontier City, you're gonna like a Great Escape. Yeah. Oh, don't get me started on a rant. We're about to start a rant real early. Let's finish the ri trip recap and maybe we'll make it to my rat rant.
00:21:18
Speaker
Oh, boy. Um... Bobcat almost didn't open for us. and We had seen no movement on it until the guys bought beers and then it started testing.
00:21:29
Speaker
And then once John Mike finished drinking his beer, they opened it. Like, what do we do? They would not that video did not open the line until John Mike finished his beer. Great moment. We loved it.
00:21:40
Speaker
Oh, fun. um Bobcat's a lot of fun. Very smooth. It's the I don't like Timberliners and it's the best ride I've had on a Timberliner. That's because it's all pre-cut track.
00:21:52
Speaker
Yep. And why more people need to hire gravity group. It's very smooth. Good ride. I enjoyed it. Um, shout out to my experience on flashback where I pulled down my restraint and there was a wasp prowling all over me.
00:22:07
Speaker
Um, told the, uh, ride up before he got to me that there was a wasp on the restraint. So he didn't just like grab the restraint and grab a wasp. And we proceeded to spend the next five minutes with the bless you. I saw that.
00:22:19
Speaker
Um, Professional move right there. I muted myself. and Thank you. Marcus could never. um But proceeded to you know spend five minutes with two ride-ops to try to get the wasp off of me before it crawled under the restraint on me. and it was I had a panic attack. It was not good.
00:22:38
Speaker
but Of course on a boomerang. Yeah. So I had very high anxiety for that entire boomerang run. I'm like, oh god, the wasp is probably still in the train. And it's going to come get me. I don't like anything that flies with a stinger.
00:22:52
Speaker
Same. Yeah, I don't blame you. Yeah. Yeah, everything else there was fine. I think we were in and out with like an hour and a half. Wait, steaming demon is not fine. It was okay. Yeah, you said they were worse.
00:23:05
Speaker
Not many worse. I did not have a bad experience on that. I mean, it wasn't good. But it wasn't bad. boy. Who are you texting about this? No, and I'm looking where I have it ranked because i rank all my coasters, and I'm pretty sure it's down there.
00:23:21
Speaker
me see. I did not find it too terrible. What are
00:23:26
Speaker
what do you at, Kelly, these days? You at 800 yet? No. I haven't really ridden a lot of coasters this year, actually. have it 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11. No. 6. 3, 4, 5, 1, 2,
00:23:39
Speaker
one two three four five Ninth from the bottom. Probably and pretty similar for me. Yeah. Ninth from the bottom. And I think this is my count unless, oh, I don't know if I updated it I got to like, i'm I'm a mess. I'm a bad Foozie these days, but I'm at like 730 something.
00:23:58
Speaker
I might've passed you again. Maybe. I'm at 733 right now. I think I might be at 734 or five. we're really close. I will get at least one more this coming weekend.
00:24:11
Speaker
I probably won't. I could get Troller Coaster. I still don't have that. But I probably won't. You're not quite at the 100 yet. Yeah. yeah Not quite there, Allison.
00:24:22
Speaker
I... Listen. We'll see what happens. Well, you gotta to get like, uh... If you get like another 8 or 9 this year, you'll get me.
00:24:37
Speaker
You know who I'm engaged to, right? And how he's like a very toxic trip planner. You know what I thought the other day? And ah this is going to sound like an insult to Megan. It's not. So credit to her and how she supports me.
00:24:49
Speaker
Of people, of enthusiasts whose significant other is not an enthusiast. I feel like I have one of the highest credit counts out there.
00:24:59
Speaker
Shout out Megan for that support. That credit count seems to be pretty decent. What's that? So her credit count seems to be pretty decent. She's at 330. For a non-enthusiast. She's a higher credit count than me.
00:25:14
Speaker
Yeah, she has more than you, Jen. She hit 300 at Energylandian. She didn't know until we got to Fantasialand. So that was kind of funny.
00:25:27
Speaker
Yeah, I kind of, I haven't, I was really going hard in the paint on the cred chasing for a couple of years there this year. I really haven't, I have just had some like other priorities and it's kind of been nice, not like worrying about it and and, and getting back to just like enjoying the rides that I like instead of like, and don't get me wrong. If I'm going somewhere new, like I will look and make sure there's not an SPF visa spinner down the road. Like I will, but it's been kind of nice to just like enjoy some other things too. It's, I think it's,
00:25:57
Speaker
helping with the longevity of my interest in this hobby. Cause I think I was getting close to getting a little burnt for now. So yeah, but it needs to be a really good balance of trying to get credits, but then also actually enjoying the relaxing pieces of parks. And like, especially when you're at parks that do that so well.
00:26:20
Speaker
Yeah. Then there's me. This has been my highest cred count year ever so far.
00:26:27
Speaker
I think about like 152 or 3 new or something. think I did 2 something in 2023. Well, you didn't have any like particular reason for that or anything, did No, not at all.
00:26:43
Speaker
but Ooh, channel update. I'm bringing back daily videos on September 23rd. Ooh, that's so soon. Yeah. I have an idea. There's a significance of September twenty third And how many days are left in a year at that date?
00:26:59
Speaker
That sounds really hard to do right now. I think it's like a long count, but I'm just not going to. I have some fun ideas. i hope Hopefully it ah it comes out well.
00:27:11
Speaker
I'm excited for that. Yeah, yeah. yeah Continuing with my not-the-cathetic trip recap. We went off the rails.
00:27:21
Speaker
Yeah, a little bit. um So the same day of as A Great Escape, we ah crossed the Canadian border, and that was fun because they did not understand that friends travel together to ride roller coasters in different countries.
00:27:35
Speaker
I don't know. Anyway, we eventually made it to La Ronde. Where we, it was dead because it had just rained shortly before. And we finished the entire park in about three hours.
00:27:46
Speaker
Oh, that's nice. Mm-hmm. Oui, oui. Oui,
00:27:53
Speaker
oui. It was a cute park. I can see the appeal of it. i know and It gets a lot of mixed reviews. Isn't that the park that Taylor Bybee hates? Famously, yeah.
00:28:04
Speaker
Yeah, okay. I don't understand why. So, well, to be fair, that was like eight years ago at this point, and he liked it a little more his second visit. Yeah, he's the only person I know that I've heard, like, bad things out of that park from. Oh, no, there's a lot more than that.
00:28:19
Speaker
Oh, I haven't really heard many. Like, I've heard people say it's not their favorite park, but, like, I haven't heard bad things, really. Yeah, it's it's okay. Cute and qe is strong, but it's it's okay. I just like how all them all the names have les in front of them.
00:28:33
Speaker
Les talons. Les talons. Les monstres. Les boomerang. Let's not judge my terrible French accent. ah Monster was very interesting. It kind of reminded me of Loop Guru in a way where it's just like bouncy like what the heck is happening right now.
00:28:51
Speaker
um One jolt got all of us and I ah slammed my head into Javi's shoulder. So much so that I had to apologize mid-ride and I'm like I am so sorry.
00:29:02
Speaker
It's a very good comparison to Loop Guru, actually. Yeah, that's like the closest thing I could think of. It's like Loop Guru, but not as fun. Loop Guru is like bouncy, fun, smooth.
00:29:14
Speaker
I don't know. So I've been to both of these parks, and both of those rides were closed. I don't have Monster, and I don't have a Loop Guru.
00:29:24
Speaker
Yeah. Oh, that's so disappointing. Hopefully you ride them soon, because they both need to be RMC to build them. I mean, umm okay if I don't. I think I'll survive.
00:29:35
Speaker
I literally looked up Loop Guru because I was like, I don't really know what this is. And the first thing it brings me to um is rollercoaster reddit that says Loop Guru at Wallaby Belgium is the roughest coaster in recent memory.
00:29:48
Speaker
It wasn't even rough. It was just down. Yeah. Monster. RMC it. Yep. must rcs sure I'm in the same park again. ah ah Yeah, that would be cool. That would get me back there for sure. um What else is that? on LeTeron.
00:30:08
Speaker
Very, very good. later It was hauling. man um they I know Mike pointed out like but after the zero G roll where it like hit like a NOS button and just like went full send.
00:30:22
Speaker
don't know. It was weird. And we got on mini mine train, so that was exciting. Screw you. Apparently that's difficult. But we just walked right past the ah operator who just smiled and waved and said merci as we put our hands up for the restraint check.
00:30:42
Speaker
Yeah, so that was good. Ran into Nate because Nate was able, like Nate was on his own trip and he popped in for a couple hours so we got to hang out for a little bit. That was fun. And after that we drove, that night we drove halfway to Toronto.
00:30:56
Speaker
Once again, you got about five hours of sleep that night. It was more than three the night before. That was nice. um And then we did a day at Canada's Wonderland where it was one of their fireworks days. So it was ungodly busy.
00:31:09
Speaker
I don't think it matters if it's a firework day or not. Yeah, I i but had most credits in that park. I had a few like kids rides I was missing and I got a few more of those in. Oh, you had been before. I have been. We were there the same day.
00:31:22
Speaker
Yes. Yes, we were. Kelly was there too. Yeah, sure was. That was good trip. Yeah, I was missing like a lot from that trip. Not a lot, but like the stuff we weren't allowed to ride then.
00:31:36
Speaker
But now we are true. Yeah, they got the two new coasters since we were there last. And there's, you know, some some coaster in the mountain now that was the reason that we were there. That thing.
00:31:48
Speaker
That thing. Phenomenal. I don't 100% remember. I know you had a very positive review of it, Bryant. So here's the thing. I had thought, because I was kind of one of the first people to ride at least people that we knew, and I thought I was going to overhype it by saying, oh it's one of the best launches I've ever had.
00:32:08
Speaker
It's almost top 25, not quite making my top 25. But apparently saying that was underhyping it, because everyone that's ridden it since is like, holy crap, this is maybe like a top 15, top 20 coaster. I'm like, oh, okay.
00:32:21
Speaker
Oh, wow. Where did I? Now, granted, I did not get a night ride or a front or a back row. I only got two rides. So I got I can see with a truly elite night ride, it could definitely crack my top 25. I did. We did get a night ride on it. We were.
00:32:35
Speaker
It was they closed the line at eight o'clock. We got in line at about 730. We'd used our fast pass, our single use fast lane or whatever earlier in the day. And then we did standby but we got in line at 730. And then we waited two hours.
00:32:47
Speaker
Fun. wo not ideal where did i rank it where's my spreadsheet i put at i'm gonna predict 19 you're close 18 i'm a sucker for a rolling launch and when you see the launch in the mountain you're like how does that launch fit what do you what do you have right around it what's 17 and 19 um 17 is hyperio which i know i have that lower than most people i know um
00:33:18
Speaker
19 is Pantheon. Okay. I have those very far apart from each other. Pantheon's way too high, but anyway, that's another question. loved it. Okay.
00:33:30
Speaker
um Yeah, Alpenfury, that launch into the vertical hill, into the top hat out of
Canada's Wonderland and Safety Rant
00:33:36
Speaker
the mountain is absurd. That's cool. I'm excited. You guys are exciting me.
00:33:42
Speaker
Yes. it's Much comfier train. Very, very good. but Yeah, comfy train. I'd love to... get in the mentality of trying to enjoy the layout after the launch. Cause I think I was, especially my first ride, i was so taken aback without launch. I like almost forgot about the rest of the layout.
00:34:00
Speaker
And then the second, the second ride, i'm like, okay, yeah, the the rest layout, like it's keeping its speed and great whip. Am I still underwhelmed? Maybe I don't know. And then, but then I have to leave.
00:34:11
Speaker
Yeah. So I'm sure with like two or three more rides, I would have fully gotten like, okay, what do I really think about this thing? And I feel like it was going to, We got three rides total. Three rides? Yeah. It has a heck of a roar.
00:34:25
Speaker
Like you can hear it throughout the whole park. Did you ever think you'd have a premiere in your top 20? How about that? No. No, not really.
00:34:35
Speaker
trying to think. like I really didn't do much else besides a couple other cruds I needed. We did Snoopy's. That was cute. and't really We did Leviathan. We did get a ride on Leviathan.
00:34:48
Speaker
It was nice to not have a rain ride and actually be able to see what I was riding. yeah Overall, it was a very chill day at the park. Mike and I took some time to just walk around and take pictures.
00:35:01
Speaker
Nice. Because we weren't pressed for creds. Yeah, that that is such a much more enjoyable. Like, I had a great time with you guys, don't get me wrong. But the anxiety of trying to do everything, and I was also filming my review. Yeah.
00:35:14
Speaker
So being there where, like, you don't have the pressure of trying to cred run, you appreciate that park so much more. And honestly, we get it was still stressful, but we had a really lucky day because it was, like, rainy. Yeah, we were able to get, like, 10 to 12 credits before the crowds came.
00:35:29
Speaker
Yeah, that was good for us. Fun weekend. um and then after canada's one early we did a little bit i say a little bit in the park on monday on labor day got an hour open for your ride in the morning we left an hour later than we planned to then we were caught in border traffic for another hour and then because we're continue to be stupid people we went over to niagara amusement park and got the two crudges there i don't know if i'm the only one here who's been to that park but silver comet is a lot of fun no we went there on the way up okay okay yeah
00:36:03
Speaker
Yeah, so we were there for like 45 minutes, but we got like three rides on it. We rode that and then there was like that standoff in the Frontier Town when we were exiting. do you remember that?
00:36:15
Speaker
It was funny, Kelly, because, you know, I went back to ride the Burger King coaster, which we famously did not. We chose not to ride then. Yeah. And I was just recapping like we did Lake, Niagara and Marineland on the same day.
00:36:30
Speaker
Yeah. And then almost tried to add the Burger King coaster. Yeah. And then we were just hangry. was the right move. Yeah. Yes, it was. Because we would have been way more miserable if we had that experience after all those coasters.
00:36:45
Speaker
Because it's not good. but But aren't you glad we went to Marineland? Holy crap. Yeah. yeah Right? yeah we went a different day than you guys, but yeah I'm glad we went.
00:36:59
Speaker
Same. And low-key, Dragon Coaster is probably my favorite coaster of that entire day. Dragon Mountain, I should say. yeah Yeah. I wouldn't blame you. But speaking of Darien Lake, like I think Laurent gets such a bad rap. like I agree. It's not like... i agree with you, Brian.
00:37:17
Speaker
ah Cute is a little much. like I think it's an okay part, but I would have much rather go back there than to Darien Lake. ah huh Correct. huh Correct. Yep. Easily. Darien Lake's just... I'm still missing half the creds there, and I really don't have a desire to go back to get them. i I'll never forget listening to the Drunk Riders after that trip.
00:37:39
Speaker
And Tom just went, Darren Lake, that park sucks. Just that pause into that comment. was Yeah.
00:37:50
Speaker
Accurate, though. Yeah. Whatever the year of fighter is, having that on the one train is just stupid. Yeah, everything's on one train. Still. Awful. I don't want to go back. Anyway, that was my not-so-short recap of our Labor Day trip where I got 20 new cruds.
00:38:07
Speaker
Sorry if I'm derailing the conversation by reminiscing on our trips. um Sorry. We have so many shared experiences. Yeah, it's fitting that, you know, sorry, Jen, but like the fact that three of the four were on that Canadian trip two years Jen has been muted for like 15 minutes now.
00:38:24
Speaker
Yeah, my dog came out. She's been... All right, we're going to talk about Frontier City now, so Allison feels left out. Yeah. Oh, wait! was going to say, get well yeah you had a rant. You had a rant.
00:38:34
Speaker
I do have a rant. And usually I know we don't really do, like, coaster news type thing on this at all. However, this piece of news has me fuming. Fuming. So, a lot of parks that don't allow video recording are very strict of, like,
00:38:53
Speaker
If they don't allow it as a whole and not just because of safety reasons, it usually says it's not permitted. Like Six Flags used to do that. With the meta glasses now, even when they're safely secured and everything...
00:39:10
Speaker
They obviously, and parks that do not allow recording of their rides, have no way to stop people from using those glasses. So Frontier City, and I have not heard of any other part park at this point, but Frontier City will not let anyone use their glasses at all.
00:39:28
Speaker
Yeah, that's interesting. Not with glasses strap, nothing. Just If I was walking up those steps to Diamondback, those steep steps, and I fell, I would be losing it on that park.
00:39:43
Speaker
If I take my glasses off because I choose to be blind, that's my decision. But you don't get to tell me that I'm going to be blind.
00:39:53
Speaker
I do have one other i do know of one other park. Or specifically two rides. Plopsaland. Plopsaland. Mike could, with a strap, Mike could not ride, wear his glasses on Ride to Happiness or Anubis.
00:40:04
Speaker
So that's different because if they go backwards, because Karnan doesn't let you either, because if they go backwards, the winds catch your glasses and they can fall off. That's for safety reasons. So if it's for safety reasons and you don't trust a strap, that's fine.
00:40:20
Speaker
If you're going to tell me it's for safety, but if it's because 1% of the population is recording it on a Meta glasses, that's Like, that's a completely different situation. Yeah, no, I agree. Like, I'm sorry, their real crappy POV is really going to be, like, you're risking and everyone's safety who wears glasses. Like, it's... To me, that's so extreme. Also, you're checking my glasses for a strap. You can ask me if I have a camera on my glasses.
00:40:50
Speaker
That's a good point. Yeah, why not just ask? like Exactly. Like, you're not taking my glasses. Like... but That's a safety issue with the stairs, like you were saying, for sure. Yeah. Exactly! Like, what am I supposed to do? Put them in a locker?
00:41:03
Speaker
Unless you're gonna be like, icebreaker, where I'm not allowed to wear my glasses with or without a strap, but they did, however, tell me to wear hold my glasses in my hand. Unless you're going to do that. Love that. love Yeah.
00:41:13
Speaker
I can hold my glasses in my hand, but I can't wear them on my face. Yeah. they go They got to rethink that. It's the same thing on coasters where if you have a fanny pack on, they tell you to keep it on. It's like you're making it so that the restraint is literally so far away from my body.
00:41:29
Speaker
That is a real safety concern. You don't want me to take two extra seconds to use a bin that you should have on the platform for things like that. When I was at Cedar Point last weekend, the Magnum ride up, like, forgot to tell me. I don't think they noticed that I had a backpack on, like I had a little mini backpack.
00:41:49
Speaker
And the one in the station was just like, can you put that around your waist? And I rode Magnum with a big backpack around my waist, like a fanny pack. And I was like, I have no idea how this is allowed. And I rode Millennium Force like that and Magnum.
00:42:03
Speaker
I guess that's it because I didn't really ride anything at that park. The other two had lockers. Gatekeeper, they make you do it now. They want you to keep it on under the vest. Like I was wearing a fanny pack across my body. Allison knows because i got bad sunburn with the fanny pack across my body.
00:42:19
Speaker
Yeah, you did. Did they make put it around your waist? No, they made me keep it on my chest under the vest. Oh, so last year when I was there and was wearing one around my chest like that, they kept making me put it down around my waist.
00:42:31
Speaker
Hmm. Yeah, i don't know, man. Yeah. mean and It is crazy. But yeah i i I never thought that I would ever have a bad thing to say about Frontier City. Like, you guys know how much I love that park. I love that park.
00:42:47
Speaker
And when I heard that information, i was, like, losing it. Because i like, I don't want to wear contacts. I like wearing my glasses. Yeah, of course not. I...
00:42:59
Speaker
yeah i And I want to see the ride. I want to see the experience. I don't know. It makes me mad. They just need like a ah meta metal detection.
00:43:11
Speaker
and meta detection thing you gotta watch. Also, they're like not that hard to see. And to the same thing, it's like I don't know. Like, there's not a right answer for it. But also, like, the metaglasses are people's prescription glasses. Like, I understand you don't want people recording POVs of your ride, but, like, I really can't believe that if someone is wearing their glasses safely that they can tell them they can't wear their glasses. Right, yeah.
00:43:39
Speaker
Like, that's insane. Insane.
00:43:46
Speaker
Sorry. that That was my rant. We really can't. We can't be talking about Frontier City on this podcast right now. up you Listen, I still think we're getting to the main topic within 45 minutes, so that's pretty good.
00:43:59
Speaker
One minute to spare. Yeah, one minute to spare, and we're good. As scary as these ah silly rules are. who ha Spooky.
00:44:11
Speaker
Let's talk about some spooky season. yeah um I just threw a bunch of notes here for ideas of things to talk about as long as well as our ah listener comments and questions.
00:44:23
Speaker
Go through whatever as the vibe fits. um I'm notorious on some of these like deep dives to look for the USA Today article so we can laugh at whatever their suggestions are. ah They did not have one, shockingly, that I could find for best Halloween events at parks.
00:44:38
Speaker
But according to Google, and this is literally copy pasted from Google. Best theme park Halloween events include Halloween Horror Nights at Universal Studios' Not Scary Farm and Busch Gardens' Howl a Scream for Intense Thrills while Disneyland's Halloween Time, SeaWorld Spooktacular, and Legoland's Brick or Treat offer family-friendly fun.
00:44:56
Speaker
For a broader experience, consider Six Flags Fright Fest and King's Island's Halloween Haunt. I do like that. Just King's Island. Just King's Island. And that's not part of Six Flags according to... Yeah, that's true.
00:45:10
Speaker
Google's not up to date. No, it's not. Way to go, Google. Google it. I've never heard of Brick or Treat before, but that's a great, fantastic name. That's amazing. i love it Love to hear it.
00:45:24
Speaker
A cool name. I'm shocked for the family fun that Oogie Boogie Bash and Not So Scary Halloween Party aren't on here. and know. They're just all Disneylandic.
00:45:34
Speaker
Halloween. Does Disneyland not have Not So Scary? Is it different event over there? According to this, it's called Halloween time. yeah Halloween time. I've never even heard of that. I've only heard of Ogie Boogie.
00:45:46
Speaker
I think the Halloween time was like, oh Come on, Google AI. was going to say, Google's just all a ai now, which is depressing. Yeah.
00:45:56
Speaker
It helps sometimes, but I will not get into an AI rant right now. Wait, the Halloween time. Wait, no, it's more up to date than us. The Halloween.
00:46:10
Speaker
Of course it is. Oh no. It's, it's a events page. So the events page on the Disneyland site cause it Halloween time at Disneyland resort. And then it links to fright, delight, oogie boogie bash.
00:46:24
Speaker
Okay. okay Okay. Okay. Yeah. So Halloween. We're all kind of right. Yeah, but AI more wrong. so
00:46:37
Speaker
Can't beat those humans every time. Right.
Haunt Events and Halloween Horror Nights
00:46:41
Speaker
ah So what events do you guys have experience with?
00:46:46
Speaker
so i'll go I feel like Kelly has a longer list. Yeah, should she should go last probably. yeah so I'll fully admit, I am not really a frequent haunt goer. um The event that I've definitely been to the most is Halloween Horror Nights at Universal.
00:47:00
Speaker
I've been last three years going? Yes. um I love it. I generally love that atmosphere. um The houses are usually like awesome. like I can't really think of any one of the
00:47:17
Speaker
25, 26 that I've been through that has been bad. um I don't think I'm going this year, but I said that last year and I ended up going. So but we'll see. um I've also real quickly done Dark Nights at Hershey.
00:47:35
Speaker
Jen attended that as well. Also where I wore this Batman shirt for the first time. That was where the infamous Cocoa Cruiser ride happened. Yeah.
00:47:46
Speaker
And ah real quick, I did go to Busch Gardens Tampa Hollow Screen ones as well. Oh, and Kings Island last year. And I think that is it.
00:47:57
Speaker
I've never been, ah least inside the houses at Six Flags knowing them before, because it's always been an upcharge. We'll get to that. yeah ra Lake Compounds used to have this like really amazing like haunted like graveyard that they don't do anymore.
00:48:13
Speaker
And what they do now, I guess, is like... a lot cheaper, or at least it looks a lot cheaper than what it used to be. So I've never done that one either.
00:48:22
Speaker
But yeah, any questions about Horror Nights? I can answer that anyway.
00:48:28
Speaker
I am a not very versed in Halloween Horror Nights. I've been once, thanks to Kelly. It's 100% her fault. I would not have done that. didn't hate it. Okay. I don't hate Halloween Horror Nights.
00:48:43
Speaker
But houses do absolutely nothing for me outside of like this set is really pretty. I the suspension maybe it's like because I'm an author or something. I don't know. Suspension of disbelief does not work on me.
00:48:55
Speaker
And I do not get scared in these houses at all. I think we went through eight houses when I was at at Horror Nights and I got almost jump scared once. I don't know what it is. Just I maybe I predict what's happening. or i just know that, you know, it's all fake and it doesn't work on me.
00:49:12
Speaker
i did i did I was excited to to go through the Dueling Dragons house for the nostalgia, though. That was a great house. Yeah.
00:49:20
Speaker
Also, i totally digress, but I have an idea for a house that I would love to do in the future if Universal Creative ever wants to hit me up. I want to do a Legends of the Hidden Temple themed house with temple guards. Yes. I've put a lot of thought into it. and Those temple guards jump scared me as watching at home on TV.
00:49:40
Speaker
You could do so much with like going through the temple. You could start by crossing a moat. ah plus oh We need to design this now. I'm all into that. That was my favorite show. I would go back to Horror Nights for a Legends of the Hidden Temple house.
00:49:54
Speaker
As long as I get to assemble the Shrine of the Silver Monkey because i could have done that way faster than those annoying kids. That would be the scariest part of that house.
00:50:04
Speaker
Just watching kids fail at doing that. Like, it's three pieces. What don't you know?
00:50:12
Speaker
Jen, I'm curious. Have you even heard of Legends of the Hidden Temple? Oh, yeah. well The show, right? Yes. Well, what we were thinking, like, does anyone under 30 know that show? Because it aired in the mid-90s.
00:50:25
Speaker
Yeah. I watched it when I was younger. Like, I don't know if I watched, like, replays of it. Probably. probably Yeah. Yeah. yeah I also do have like an older brother so like he watched that kind of stuff and I was there obviously. There we go.
00:50:44
Speaker
yeah Maybe it's under 25. but Or like only children under 30 because they probably weren't watching it. True, true. ah But that's how Universal can get me back to Halloween Horror Nights.
00:50:58
Speaker
That would be really cool. i would absolutely go for that. Aside from that, other events i've been to, I go to Kings Island Haunt all the time now for obvious reasons. um I have done Disney's Not So Scary one year and I absolutely loved because I got to dress up.
00:51:15
Speaker
ah We dressed up as Brink characters for that one. And we ran into a Xenon. So we ah we were repping some 90s DCOMs um and trick-or-treating as an adult is goaded.
00:51:29
Speaker
It's the best. We got so much candy. Yeah. Not so scary is very, very, very good. love not so scary. I would do howard you not so scary over Halloween Hornets.
00:51:41
Speaker
Same. I've heard that's not ah that hot of a take. It just it depends on what you like in the spooky events. Yeah, I really enjoy the shows and the parade and stuff. Oh, I love the parade.
00:51:53
Speaker
Music and the parade. Fantastic. to you So good. literally just ran into it. it's so good oh i'm trying to think of other events i've done i think i think i was at the hershey one yes i did not go to any houses there but i was there yeah um dark knights has some really good houses um i did what i've done one or two houses at king's island i think we did those last year with you bryant
00:52:25
Speaker
I think. Yes, we did. Yeah. Yeah. We did like slaughterhouse and then something else. Yeah. Whatever one was in like the Tomb Raider building. And I spent the whole time just like looking up in the ceiling and looking at the old Tomb Raider stuff. And I'm like, oh, I'm in a haunted house.
00:52:37
Speaker
You nerd. Yeah. I'm telling you, haunted houses don't do anything for me.
00:52:43
Speaker
Yeah. I like, I mean, at least horror nights, I like going through the houses where I like, I get the references. I know the theme. Not necessarily for the scares.
00:52:55
Speaker
Like, the Stranger Things one was amazing. The Last of Us, which I'm a huge Last of Us fan. That was phenomenal for me. Yeah, they did a Beetlejuice House one year. That one was so good.
00:53:08
Speaker
think that's why like the original IP ones more, because... Or not original people like the original houses more like the Yeti one. I really liked. I was so good. Because like I've never seen the Last of Us. I've never seen Stranger Things. I haven't seen most of like what these things are themed after.
00:53:24
Speaker
Yeah. What was it two years ago? was like Winter's Wake or something. It was like three years ago. Dead Man's Pier. Dead Man's Pier. That's right. That was so good. That one.
00:53:34
Speaker
That's coded. Yeah, that one was really good, but I think that one also had a lot of tributes to, like, a late creative person in it, which is why it was so, like, it had a lot of extra care put into it.
00:53:50
Speaker
I think. I believe it was that one. Speaking of that, if I do go this year, probably the most excited house that I would be ah for is... So I'm like, I've been an on and off WWE fan throughout my life and they have a whole house theme to this wrestler who like suddenly passed away a couple of years ago. And he, he had had this like very like amazingly creative mind. It was all like spooky related.
00:54:15
Speaker
And essentially they brought the characters that he created to life in this house. And it's like a whole tribute, like to his entire career and it looks awesome. So that sounds very cool.
00:54:26
Speaker
That might get me there this year. Everything I know about this year's HHN House is I learned from the Thrills, Chills, and Spills podcast. Hey. Hey. ah Listen to the ah the hype list. So that's all I got for this year.
00:54:41
Speaker
I'm happy to give a brief rundown here if there's time or if that's of interest. I can make it super pretty. There is always time on this podcast. As long as we don't hit two hours, 45 minutes, I think we're okay. Yeah, I think we'll be fine. Yeah.
00:54:55
Speaker
No, actually, I don't know all the houses really yet. So I would yeah actually didn't look into them either. I just know there's a black cat scare zone. Oh my gosh, guys. There's this. i I truly think this year is going to be like an amazing year at H2Gen.
00:55:11
Speaker
There's so much good stuff. Do you want to hear about it now? do you wanna to hear about it later? Well, let's do it now. Yeah, we're segwaying into it. Oh, yeah. Hell yeah. um Oh, is that a, is that a no, no word? Is that okay? fine Okay. um So HHN 34 in Orlando,
00:55:30
Speaker
um it opened last weekend and it runs through the weekend of Halloween. And there are 10 houses this year. um They went back to an even five and five split with original concept and IP houses.
00:55:46
Speaker
Last year, it was not an even split, but they went back to it. So I'll run through the IPs first. So like Bryant mentioned, there is a WWE based house.
00:55:57
Speaker
It's called the Horrors of the Wyatt Six. And um he gave a pretty good rundown of what it is. i actually used to watch a little bit of wrestling, but it's been quite some time. So I didn't really know very much about Bray or Wyndham, which I learned is his real name. But I watched the documentary that's on Peacock and it was so moving.
00:56:17
Speaker
Like am. Oh man, you went all in. Oh, I do my homework. Like I'm very serious. I was so like touched. Like that house was at the bottom of my hype list. And now it's my like second or third hyped house. Like I...
00:56:30
Speaker
That's amazing. I think it's just going to make such a good house. And even for non-wrestling fans, like it'll be like an original house to them. And I think the characters are going to be so good. So I'm really excited to see what they do.
00:56:41
Speaker
I should mention real quick, if you don't mind. Like, so I i was huge into wrestling in middle school, like most of us. Then that was like Attitude Era, Rock, Stone Cold, Undertaker, like peak. And I don't watch for like 15 years. And then I think 2017, was like, ah, I used to love the Royal Rumble. I'm just screw it. I'm just going to order the Royal Rumble.
00:57:00
Speaker
And I was watching, didn't recognize like almost anybody. And then like this one guy just got me hooked. He's like this creep, this creepy music playing, huge beard. He's carrying this lantern down the runway. I'm like, who the hell is this guy? And our guy I love it. It's just an entrance.
00:57:16
Speaker
It was Bray Wyatt. And so he, you know, weird, weirdly, like kind of got me back into wrestling. So it's awesome that there's a house. Yeah, there iss a lot of there's a lot of critique amongst like the HHN community for like, WWE wwe isn't horror, why do they have a house? And you know not every IP is going to be everyone's cup of tea. i think there is ah ah definitely a ah group of of people that really enjoy wrestling and really enjoy horror. There's overlap because there death there definitely are characters that lean horror wrestling.
00:57:47
Speaker
in wwe WWE history outside of Bray Wyatt and Wyatt Six. But i think I think it's good that we all have an open mind and you don't have to go in the house if you don't like it.
00:57:57
Speaker
And I don't know if you know this, Kelly, but i think 2019, one of the directors of HHN tweeted Bray like saying, like oh, love your character work. And he responded and said, like let's do a house.
00:58:10
Speaker
Yeah. So see but that makes it even more touching. Bryant, I am so deep in this lore. I know the tweets by a heart, my guy. Amazing. Yeah, I think be really good because both Mike Aiello,
00:58:23
Speaker
And Ramon Peridova, who are creatives for HHN, like super, super into wrestling. So this was like definitely a passion project for them. i'm Sorry, I'm talking a long time about this house, but it's of interest to you. So um other IPs, there is Terrifier, which is my most hyped IP. That is like the goriest. If you guys haven't seen them, there's three of them so far. It's like the goriest.
00:58:48
Speaker
just straight slasher movie that I've ever seen. Like the kills are just outrageous. But what makes it so good is the character Art the Clown is so funny. He's like a mining type clown. And he just has really great mannerisms. If you've seen any videos, people haveve been posting from HHN, they have one of him like roaming around and riding his little tricycle and interacting with guests. And it's just so good. Like you got to look some of those up. So There's a Terrifier house, w WWE.
00:59:14
Speaker
There is a Friday the 13th house called Jason Universe, which is supposed to have all the different versions of Jason that there have been. And this is the least homework I've done. I've only ever seen the original Friday the 13th, actually. And Jason's not even in that movie. So I've kind of had to do my Cliff Notes version of Jason's stuff.
00:59:35
Speaker
um There is Fallout, which is the... um prime I think it's on Amazon Prime series. It was also a video game, but they based it off of the TV series.
00:59:49
Speaker
And it's not um it's not like horror per se, but there's definitely some like spooky characters in it. And it's kind of that like futuristic, retro futuristic, like.
01:00:01
Speaker
post-apocalyptic it's like post-atomic bomb um people live in a vault and then they some of the characters go out into like the wasteland that used to be you know like los angeles that's kind of the premise of that um not getting great reviews so far but i'm trying to keep an open unbiased mind going in and then the last ip is is Five Nights at Freddy's.
01:00:25
Speaker
um This is like the Teeny Boppers dream. This house, because I am so psychotic that I plot thrill data into my own color-coded spreadsheets to figure out my plan of attack, this house has had literal 180-minute waits, and sometimes they close the queue.
01:00:49
Speaker
Like this thing is insane without express. I don't even know if I'm going to get in this house. I don't care that much because I'm not a five nights at Freddy's person, but apparently they have some Jim Henson animatronics in there that are wild.
01:01:02
Speaker
So, um, that's a thing that's happening. Um, the original houses, i tend to like them a little bit more, although i am hyped for, for some of those IPs this year.
01:01:15
Speaker
Um, so they have one called grave of flesh, which is supposed to be like, you're going down into your own grave and it shows you what happens to your body after you're buried. um they have, b Brian says, that's a no go for me. um That was everything just now.
01:01:32
Speaker
Um, they have, El Artista, which is supposed to be like the house of the original house of the year. It's basically like a tortured artist from, 18th century Spain goes to this, um, manor where like artists are supposed to go to like reinvigorate their create, their creative juices, I guess. And basically like spirits kind of possess him and he,
01:01:57
Speaker
creates all these different like media, um like he does some sculptures and he does some paintings and they're all like displayed in this house, but it's for the spirits to take physical form out of his artwork and then like come alive and haunt him and us as we walk through it. So that's supposed to be really good. And kind of the overarching theme of the event is based off of that house.
01:02:20
Speaker
um there's like a conservatory as part of this like manor it's like all stained glass and very like gothic gargoyle type um like decor and that kind of permeates the rest of the event this year um and then there gulkan monsters of the north and this is a we don't know a lot about this one it's supposed to be like a nordic um folklore type house with like dire wolf looking things. looks very game of Thrones esque to me.
01:02:52
Speaker
It's getting pretty good reviews so far. There's Dolls Let's Play Dead, which is very Toy Story. Literally everything in the house is enlarged. So you feel shrunken like the size of a doll. And there's some like sadistic little girl who mangles her stuff. And you you see all of that. It's very like Sid Toy Story vibes, you know?
01:03:12
Speaker
um and then the last original is called Hatchet and Chains. And this is based off of a room that was in Slaughter Cinema last year, very briefly. And it is these two bounty hunters that are supposed to be chasing after lava demons, but it's like a Western, it's Western style house.
01:03:31
Speaker
So those are the 10 houses. There are four scare zones. The origins of horror is the one at the front gate. And that's kind of just like the gargoyles kind of matching the LRT set house vibes. And then there's mutations, toxic twenties in New York, which is supposed to be a buzz con and,
01:03:48
Speaker
um truck buzz con was used in the bugs alive house a couple of years ago is like a pest pest control company a buzz con truck in the streets of New York in the 1920s gets into like an accident and the stuff spills out into the streets this like green goo and it infects everybody and turns them into these like zombie-esque characters with like green bubbling skin and there's like mobsters and it's very 20s looking.
01:04:16
Speaker
There's Masquerade Dance with Death, which is in Hollywood. And that's like masked vas vampires kind of like coming together for like an annual ball, it seems.
01:04:27
Speaker
And then the most exciting one for me is called Cat Lady of Crooked Lane. And this is very like generic Halloween decor, like lots of orange pumpkins in the trees. The premise is the kids kind of go up trick or treating to this woman's house, but she like gets them to come in and turns them into these cats. And then the cats come out and attack.
01:04:46
Speaker
And it's, it's very like um campy, but like classic Halloween. I think it's going be awesome. There's like hairballs in the street. I heard. Yeah, so the the cat lady, ScareZone, is like, it's so close to making me try HHN again. Yes, girl.
01:05:03
Speaker
You let me know if you want to go. The Black Cats. I just want to go to the Black Cats and then not do anything else. They also have street experiences this year. So instead of a fifth scare zone, they have club horror in San Francisco where there's like literally a DJ and go-go dancers.
01:05:20
Speaker
And then there is at Mel's, which they transformed to Mel's die-in instead of drive-in. They have zombie car hops on like roller skates. Oh, that's cool.
01:05:30
Speaker
Yeah. And then there's, of course, Nightmare Fuel, the show they've had the past couple of years. They also brought back the Lagoon show, which is called Haunt-a-Phonic, a ghoulish journey, where it's supposed to be like a light and fountain and music show. Yeah.
01:05:44
Speaker
yeah And then all of the food and beverage. Hello, Ahsoka. I'm excited. She heard about the kitties. She wants to go play. Yeah. She's like, let me chase the cats. I love them.
01:05:58
Speaker
Yeah. So hopefully that didn't take too long, quick run through, but that's what's happening. It's getting a lot of hype so far. So I'm very excited to check it out this weekend.
01:06:09
Speaker
If there was any question as to why we wanted Kelly on this week to join us for spooky season talk, that's why. Did you have notes? did you have notes Oh, no, that's from memory, my guy. was going to say, i didn't see you looking at anything. I'm like, oh, my God. um No, i have talked about this enough. I just love it so much. Like, I follow this year round.
01:06:29
Speaker
Like, the, but like, little, like, teaser maps that come out in, like, literally January, I'm already scheming. Like, I'm like, what's it going to be? Like, this is this is, like, more than coasters to me.
01:06:42
Speaker
Like on our podcast, we used to do a little interview section where one of the questions was, if you had to choose, would you rather never do anything spooky season and ride any roller coaster you want or always skip spooky season, but only ride coasters built before the year like 2000 or something like that? And it's like a no brainer for me, but like nobody else really agrees.
01:07:04
Speaker
Yeah. It's no-brainer for me too, but in the opposite direction. Yeah. Yeah. I just love it so much. And to answer the question that you guys are answering about like other spooky events, HHN is definitely like the event that I love the most. I surprisingly haven't been to like a ton. I've been to Dorney's Haunt since I was a little kid because that's my home park. I've been to Dark Nights at Hershey.
01:07:25
Speaker
I've been to Fright Fest Extreme at Six Flags Great Adventure, which is kind of laughable. um I've been to the Lake Compounds Haunt. And as far as parks, I think that's really it. To be honest, I actually really enjoy going to like local haunts.
01:07:42
Speaker
I find them to be a lot scarier when they're just like podunk little like haunted houses or like things that happen in a field or a haunted hayride. I love those. We have a local one that we're including as part of a wobble this year that I'm really excited about. But I i really prefer those except for HHN. I think what HHN brings is, is obviously the money, but like also with that, the just extremely superior set design and ability to tell a story that lacks in any other type of haunt haunted house event that I've been to. I think like if you don't like horror don't like scares, you can at least appreciate the design that goes into, into the event and the passion
01:08:29
Speaker
shines through from the people that work on the event all year round. So I really enjoy that. I love being scared. i don't get scared super easily. I need like a real good jump scare to get me, but ah really enjoy being scared if it happens.
01:08:44
Speaker
So I'm good watching Tom get scared. Yeah, that is the thing that happens. I forgot to mention another haunt that I've been to. I've actually been to two HHNs.
01:08:56
Speaker
Oh, have you been to Hollywood? No. Have you been to Japan? Universal Studios Japan. Just wanted that mic to. Did you really go to HHN there? Yeah, it was it was during that time. And it was the houses were included with admission there. Oh, amazing. It's not as good as like Orlando or Hollywood. Yeah. They had like four or five houses. And but there was like a Chucky one we did that was really good.
01:09:15
Speaker
Okay. It was still really well done. just Yeah. Yeah. not the hype of the, you know, the state's HHN. Yeah. yeah I guess there's rumor that the one in the UK is going to have an HHN.
01:09:26
Speaker
Oh yeah. They, they will not love their Yes. think that, like ocean there too probably ah
01:09:37
Speaker
yeah think I think that leaves me the only one that didn't cover. I haven't gone
Local Haunts vs. Theme Park Attractions
01:09:43
Speaker
to many haunts. I'm with Kelly. I like, I feel like coming from the Northeast, we just, we have far too many really good.
01:09:54
Speaker
privately run haunts like um eastern state is like right here penhurst asylum like field of screams like there's some pretty huge ones that are known across the country that are like right in our backyard so i feel like going to parks for haunts are kind of like laughable um but yeah six flags great adventure is one i've been to same reaction as kelly it's like comical um Dark Nights, which I really like, but I really like it because the set, I think, is so beautifully done. Like, they do a really great job with their environment.
01:10:32
Speaker
um But not necessarily. I did notice that, actually, about Dark Nights. Lots of Yeah. Lots of fog. Lots of fog. The detail in their houses, like... very decor in like the pathways too i feel like they do a good job like some haunts i feel like you walk around and it feels like you're in the park like you would be any other day until you get to the next house like they do a really good job of creating like a ah halloween spooky atmosphere wherever you are in the park yeah they do a really good job with that um dorney of course i love dorney's haunt um
01:11:07
Speaker
HHN. I did HHN not last year, the year before. The year with Bugs Alive. Three years ago. hated that house. Yeah. The year with Bugs Alive. I did it that year. yeah.
01:11:20
Speaker
makes snap that That's when you ran into Megan. you were that We were there for that. Yeah. That's when Megan saved me, guys. I almost fell in the queue and Megan like used her whole body to save me. It was great.
01:11:31
Speaker
Did she fall King's Island, too? um Yeah, but in both cases at both occasions I was under the influence. on So it's, I always fall. I fall a lot when I'm under the influence. And that time Megan saved me. And actually I did not fall at Kings Island.
01:11:52
Speaker
The man scared us and Sarah, Sarah, Sarah fell. I caught her. I did not let her. And we were involved. And she cut my hand. walked around the house and I was like, guys, I'm bleeding. didn't let her catch the ground so much that I'm bleeding.
01:12:10
Speaker
I just remember you guys twerking in the slaughterhouse. That's my only memory of that. That sounds so accurate. you know I don't recall that. ah Maybe it's for the better. Yeah.
01:12:21
Speaker
and um Because it was like Alex was twerking in the Flight of Fear line. And I think that kind of prompted a lot of it. Gotcha. I'm remembering. Yeah. It was a fun. Yeah. Speaking of that, I also have done King's Island's hunt.
01:12:35
Speaker
And Cedar Points. I did Cedar Points. I like their event. <unk> I think it's fun. And I think that really brings me pretty much to the end. I said not so scary, which I love not so scary. I think i haven't been and that's high on my list.
01:12:51
Speaker
Yeah, I think when it comes to a theme park, because I'm surrounded by so many, like I live like 40 minutes from Field of Screams, which is a pretty good one. And so it's like when it comes to a haunt, I'd rather do something like that. Like Field of Screams, I don't know if they still make you do it, but like there was a point in time where you'd still like crawl through a bus.
01:13:09
Speaker
Yes. We should go We should go. You let me know. yeah I've heard about it. yeah Yeah, we should go. so like, for me, i like the campy and fun, like, not-so-scary Oogie Boogie.
01:13:24
Speaker
Like, that environment to me is a lot more fun than Haunted Theme Park. HHN's a little different because, like, and don't know. I feel like any other park doesn't really have the budget that they give HHN.
01:13:38
Speaker
Sure. Um, But like, I would just rather do a haunt haunt and then um spend my time at Oogie Boogie or Not So Scary.
01:13:50
Speaker
Not So Scary is fantastic. I got to dress up like Ariel when I went in her Kiss the Girl dress. ah Fun.
01:14:00
Speaker
Yeah, so I think that's my collection.
01:14:05
Speaker
So we've been to a pretty vast array. of Halloween events. Yeah,
01:14:12
Speaker
yeah I think so. What do you think is the most creative or innovative thing that you have seen a Halloween event?
01:14:22
Speaker
Since we are a creative podcast, we should at least talk about that part of it.
01:14:29
Speaker
I mean, for me, i feel like this should, we should ah go to Kelly for this one. Um, I want to bring up that Dead Man's Pier house again. That was just the way they like put like a ship and they incorporated smells and and the mist like hitting your face was just... God, the smells at HHN.
01:14:51
Speaker
In a good way or a bad way? I would have to go back and look in my notes. I did like I love the smells of HH. I did many reviews of all the houses as I went through them. but One of them smelled like doo-doo. And I don't remember which one it was. Exorcist Believer.
01:15:05
Speaker
Was it that one? Yes. 100%. And there is one this year, too. They love their smells. They love all the sensory experiences. Oh, I also want to shout out Hershey when we went, Jen.
01:15:18
Speaker
And I'm sure this is an effect they do at other places. But like there was that room in that mine where it looked like we were walking in water. I was going to bring that one up and you start talking first. um Yeah, I think they do it in other places as well. But um yeah, they they use the light and the fog.
01:15:37
Speaker
So they use the fog. I honestly they might have even used dry ice because it stayed low. um And then they projected the light onto that to make it look like water. And then the scare actors, you couldn't see them at all. And they were just like popping out.
01:15:53
Speaker
There was nothing in that room except for but I really think it was dry ice, but like the dry ice and um like them jumping out.
01:16:05
Speaker
Very cool. Such a cool effect. It was such a good way to like add in a room. Like that room took nothing for them to make. right exactly so very cool i did find my notes and yes it was exorcist and i specifically wrote kelly said it smelled like someone pooped that's word for word from my note yeah and then i did say a darkest deal smelled very good love darkest deal that's an all-timer um it's funny looking back at my notes someone who doesn't like houses
01:16:41
Speaker
yeah i If we're talking about creative aspect, um I do also have to give a big shout out for like parks with food. like HHN has such a good food menu for... Super creative. yeah it And drinks.
01:16:59
Speaker
Even the um exclusive beers that they bring in just for HHN are so well thought through of like if they'll fit in in HHN.
01:17:09
Speaker
So it's really cool to see that. Yeah, I was just going to like kind of to echo um echo what you said. i think HHN from a creative perspective is one of its, obviously one of its like strong points. I think what I really love and what makes a successful HHN year for me is when they're able to ti everything together in a like cohesive way. So like
Creative Scares and Immersive Experiences
01:17:36
Speaker
last year, the like icons of the event and the houses and the scare zones, there was like a really loose tie between things. And you really had to like dig pretty deep and like
01:17:46
Speaker
to to kind of put everything together the year prior when you went, Allison, um the the icon was Dr. Oddfellow. And if you listened to the Universal podcast beforehand, you would see like he had his own house, the scare zones tied into different decades of his life. Like everything was kind of brought together and you have to, you have to be a fan of HHN to get really into the lore of that kind of stuff. But like,
01:18:10
Speaker
That's what i I really love. And the creative teams always hide little Easter eggs in the houses. They have code names for the houses that um always make sense in some special way. And I think that kind of stuff is really fun for like somebody who's a fan of HHN like me. um I think sometimes some of the most effective scares aren't necessarily the most creative, but they work really well. Like one for me that I always think of is when there's a room and there's a bunch of dummies, but one of the dummies is a scare actor. And like, you can't tell like dark, um, blood moon, dark offerings from a couple of years ago, had one of those rooms in a church and that freaking wrecks me.
01:18:52
Speaker
It wrecks me every time. And HHN always has a house with it. And it wrecks me every time. It's so simple and so effective as a scare because you're like on edge, you know, the whole time. And I think another thing um that we didn't really talk about that HHN does so much better than other haunts is their um like sound, like their score in the houses, like they have either scary music playing, they have really good sound activated like triggers like last year in, um,
01:19:23
Speaker
and um uh, insidious, which was really good. um they had just like that high pitched violin in the background. Um, and that just made me feel like on edge, like they do a really good job, like setting the stage from like, like I said, like all the sensory perspectives, um, some local haunts do some, some things where they have like those inflatable walls where it makes you feel like claustrophobic. Not, not a fan of that. Don't like things touching me.
01:19:51
Speaker
Um, I've also been in a haunt where there's like a sound deprivation room where you like walk in and you can't hear anything. That's really interesting. I think there's a lot of, lot of different creative tools that are out there and probably some that we don't even realize are being utilized.
01:20:08
Speaker
But I love this. Thank you guys so much for having me. Oh, of course. No, that was great. Runda. I mean, anything that screws with your senses or a sense is going to get you. Did you do Kelly? um It was part of one of the the Georgia stumbles.
01:20:23
Speaker
We went to that like crazy haunted house in Atlanta. I really need to go to that. Yeah, I didn't get there in time to go. Oh, okay. That was so good. oh my, it was like 45 minutes. It was like this longest walk through bedroom. Netherworld. Netherworld, okay. Netherworld, yeah. always heard Netherworld's like one of the best.
01:20:39
Speaker
Oh my God, it was terrifying. It's bad I was underwhelmed, but that just is par for the course for me. Oh, yeah, you're, you know. To be fair, the one time I went, it was like super, super busy and I could see everything that was going to happen before it got to me.
01:20:52
Speaker
So was just, conga line of people all the way through yeah we we get to go in a good group i think from what i remember that's one of the downsides to hhn is it's so busy that they don't pulse groups of people through you we walk through in a conga line for for every house whereas some of the local haunts like you might go in in your group of six people and that kind of makes it a little bit a little bit more scary i think i would probably get more out of it in places like that yeah where it's a little more like singled out on you Yeah, it's fun.
01:21:25
Speaker
I think that's a good ah lead into the next question and in that what could parks do better with haunts, in your opinion? Not do conga lines. Not do conga lines.
01:21:38
Speaker
I think like some of, I'm trying to think of like, where have I been that it like, wasn't good. And unfortunately, like not, not to bad mouth any parks, but like last year when I went to great adventures, it was just like, so sparse. Like, I think maybe focus less on the number of houses they have. I know recently they've acquired a lot of IPs and doing a lot more like IP based houses, but like maybe focus on making a couple of really strong houses that are properly staffed.
01:22:06
Speaker
Like, I think For me, at least the way I get scared is by live actor jump scares. And when you go into a house and there's three people in the whole thing, like that's not going to be effective.
01:22:19
Speaker
So I think like quality is much more important than quantity when it comes to an event. Local events have like the one I'm thinking of that's going to be part of our, our buzz bars event coming up has like four things like a hayride,
01:22:33
Speaker
a maze and two houses and it's so well done there it there's scare actors literally everywhere think that's really important if you're gonna do an event i think roaming roaming actors can make a big difference totally i remember i think it was at dorney in one of the places there like they were just surrounding and like i would see some of them and i'd keep walking and then one would appear right behind us because i didn't see him from the shadows and It's going to lot of fun.
01:23:05
Speaker
i would like to see more parks do events that aren't necessarily houses. If they can somehow like incorporate a ride with scares. I feel like recently I read some ride that's doing that. I forgot if it's in in the States or in Europe where essentially they're having like scares while you're on. i don't know if it's coaster. Again, I forgot.
01:23:27
Speaker
But if I don't know how like feasible it is with like safety and stuff but I can already think of a coaster that would be a perfect candidate for that like the beast mystic timbers yeah oh exactly they need to put some people in there man yeah I think at every time yeah that would be such like even if it's just like one scene in a ride like that would be fantastic yeah you're right about like there would be some probably safety issues and things with to figure out with that but
01:24:00
Speaker
yeah Just imagining like a scare actor in the shed jumping out at you. Oh my god, that'd be great. You're not going to go anywhere. It's kind of like not the best example, but like just because we were in a lot of the UK parks this summer, they definitely focused on theming there a lot a lot of their dark rides and their transportation rides to spooky stuff. really i do And at Thorpe...
01:24:23
Speaker
um What was that? The Walking Dead coaster had like a lot of um like opportunities. I hear that they use live scare actors. They weren't there when we were there, but they it's it's meant to utilize them. And I think that' that's really cool.
01:24:39
Speaker
Also the ghost train.
01:24:42
Speaker
Yeah. Just in general, like having things like that is cool. Yeah. Tying that into ah Halloween event would lot of fun. I feel like Parks did this more back in the day.
01:24:53
Speaker
But bring back backwards rides at like all parks. At least one coaster per park. Oh God. I can't agree. yeah i like My old woman equilibrium says no.
01:25:11
Speaker
I think they turned around Batman the ride backwards. can't imagine that. I never got to do it. ah They turned Batman? Oh my god, I'm thinking of the positives on the back of my neck and I want to die.
01:25:27
Speaker
They might have run it as fast back then. But yeah, they definitely ran that backwards. That's terrifying, honestly. yeah Of all the coasters that I would have guessed them to run backwards, that's not even a little bit on my list.
01:25:41
Speaker
No. like i'm thinking Like, imagine hitting that first loop. No.
01:25:48
Speaker
Yeah, like, there's... that honestly is like asking for disaster like i feel like if you're gonna go backwards you really need to focus on negatives like some floaty like a hyper yeah yeah like some floaty ejector time that would be so fun putting that type of force like yeah putting that type of negative no positive force on your neck going the opposite direction like there's nothing to hold your head against no launches no I'm thinking like 2015 is when they ran that backwards.
01:26:18
Speaker
Crazy. I would need to tie my whole head to the restraint. Yeah. Like I, no, thanks. Oh my God. That would be worse than flight of fear. Kings Island.
01:26:30
Speaker
Yeah. I'm thinking like nitro backwards would be amazing. Yeah. Like a hyper backwards. That would be, yeah. Even like el or imagine that.
01:26:41
Speaker
Oh my God. Talon backwards. like We know that B&M hypers can run backwards because Hollywood Dream is a thing. That's exactly what I thought of them. Yeah, I feel like a
Haunt Event Pricing Debate
01:26:51
Speaker
hyper would be a good candidate, but you can't have too many forces.
01:26:58
Speaker
Now, it's in the notes. I don't know the answer because I'm not a business person, but there definitely was a hot debate about upcharging the Haunt events versus including them in the ticket cost.
01:27:09
Speaker
I'm sorry, I'm gonna come right out and say it. We already said it twice on this podcast. theme parks haunts are not that good. Like HHN is pretty good because they literally shut down their park and they make it the entire park. Like they could shut down every ride in that park. And like, as far as I'm concerned, HHN is a haunt attraction. It is not a theme park attraction.
01:27:33
Speaker
Don't charge me for houses. Like, don't charge me for your four scare actor filled house. That's not even that well themed. That's going to take me three minutes to walk through.
01:27:45
Speaker
there Then the argument is if you are charging, will they have more money to hire more actors? We know the answer to that. The answer is no. yeah It's going to take some time to even see that revenue turnaround for sure. Even if they utilize it for the haunt, which I'm sure they won't, they'll use it for other stuff.
01:28:00
Speaker
But we had this kind of, we discussed this on our podcast too, because of the the recent news with the six flags doing this. And I think exactly like you said, Jen, if, if this is a premier event that is, can stand on its own and is not operating within the parks hours. And it it is,
01:28:19
Speaker
it It is worth the cost of a ticket. Yes, make that a separately ticketed event. But if you are going to be at your home park down the street, there all day trick-or-treating in the afternoon with your kids, and then magically at 5 p.m. when it starts to get dark out, the spooky people come out. And now to experience all of the extra stuff that you do in that park, I have to pay extra I don't really see how, unless the quality is drastically improved upon, how that's really worth it. And the part that bothers me the most of this whole thing will go back to when you are selling
01:29:00
Speaker
a season pass to a park or group of parks and you click on the little chart that shows you what is included in your level of pass and you're promised all these seasonal events and all of these new rides and none of those things happen how is that not against the freaking law you're you're literally swindling money from people it's like bait it's bait and switch like It's... Ahsoka has a lot of opinions about this too, guys.
01:29:33
Speaker
I don't blame her. but like I could see if they would have, like, announced it this year, like, hey, next year we're gonna start charging for this. and give me Exactly. Exactly. exactly Not like two weeks before the end. Not like, hey. That's trashy. Hey, by the way, um we're not having our haunt event this year. Or, hey, by the way, we're having our haunt that you've been going to for the past 25 years as part of your season pass. But now if you want to go in haunted houses, you have to pay every time.
01:30:02
Speaker
Yeah, and I think what bothers me so much with this exact situation is that, like, it's not like...
01:30:12
Speaker
This dog. it is It's not like... She agrees. She's fired up. We need be in this house, okay? we mean We needed ah another co-host on here.
01:30:25
Speaker
but The treats are going to save the day. No, they're not. She put her head back down. So I don't i don't know how this is going to go. um The thing for me is that like, it would be one thing if, even if Six Flags was putting out a Dark Nights quality event, but they're not.
01:30:47
Speaker
And they've been charging for their houses for years and years, and they're not putting out a quality event. So do I think that they're going to put on a quality put out a quality event now? Like, I don't. Like, I don't think they're gonna do the same thing. I think that their numbers were down all summer because... For obviously, obvious reasons. Like, obvious reasons, their numbers were down all summer, and now they're real quick like, oh, we have to get our numbers up, so we're gonna charge for houses.
01:31:19
Speaker
I'm glad we're in agreement that this policy is stupid. Like, I'm happy to pay more... Clearly, because i'm go I bought a season pass for HHN this year when I know that I'm only going like five or six days.
01:31:33
Speaker
I bought a season pass for an event because that event is worth it to me. Am I going to, I were to go to Dorney, which I do go frequently, I would maybe stop in one or two of the houses every visit. Am I going to do that this year? Probably not.
01:31:48
Speaker
To be honest, yeah because they don't change. They don't change every year. That's the other thing. That's the other thing. These houses are the damn same every year. Yeah. They're doing the exact same house every year.
01:32:00
Speaker
And so you're not, why, why would I pay money to go into a house that I've gone into four years in a row? Like nothing's going to change. HHN is putting that money not only towards the event in itself but like all year they're thinking about those houses they're planning those houses like the I uh it's like I will pay I'll pay for the houses in a heartbeat if you give us an HHN level experience yeah they give completely new content every year
01:32:35
Speaker
And it doesn't have to I'm not going to expect that it's HHN level sets and stories from from one of these chain chain parks. that
Hershey Park and Knott's Scary Farm Praise
01:32:46
Speaker
That's not what I'm saying I need to happen for me to pay. But for me to pay, it has to be It has to correlate to the degree of quality.
01:32:58
Speaker
You know? Like HHN costs $100 for a single night ticket. If you're going to give me... a quarter of that quality because of your budget fine but then charge $25 yeah it needs to like very clearly match the quality that you're getting and from every other year that I've seen these parks there's I feel like I really hate name-calling parks but like one of Dorney's haunted houses has like five scare actors and it's just a black room
01:33:30
Speaker
Like it's a dark maze. Do not charge me for that. It was fine for free. It was fun. I've always had fun in that house. But do not charge me money to go in a pitch dark room. And last time I was in there, someone grabbed girls.
01:33:47
Speaker
so It was an accident, but it's like, you're going to make me pay money accidentally have my girls grabbed?
01:33:57
Speaker
so people Some people want to pay money for that, my girl. Yeah, I charge for that. You pay me. Alright, this is getting a little unhinged now.
01:34:10
Speaker
Sorry. being real here. I'm not paying for your fans.
01:34:17
Speaker
So, listener comments. yes weve um We had to stop the recording partway through and I honestly don't know how long the episode is now because think we're at around 90. Yeah.
01:34:28
Speaker
Something like that. Oh, okay. It's 56 before. Okay. Not doing too bad. I know, Bryant, you're probably ready to go to bed. Yeah, had my usual 3.45 a.m. m alarm. Yeah. oh Gross.
01:34:41
Speaker
um So I posted on our socials and the questions I kind of posed ah said, ah well, there's a typo in one, but What things do you love about Halloween events at parks? Which event is your favorite? And what what little details make a big difference in your experience?
01:34:57
Speaker
Shout out to the very first one I got from mjohnq98 who just said roller coaster with a succession of four emojis. I think that means theyre like they like the roller coasters and the haunt events.
01:35:08
Speaker
Yeah, I do feel like one of the nice things as a coaster enthusiast is that some parks that don't always have night rides are open late enough to get night rides.
01:35:18
Speaker
um So or it gets I should say it's open long enough and it gets dark earlier. So they have night rides. So as a coaster enthusiast, it is really nice to have those events too. Oh, for sure. and Totally.
01:35:33
Speaker
Or like on Mystic Timbers when the fog from Haunt like settles in one of the valleys of the hills. spectacular oh my gosh it hershey yeah at by the end of the night storm runner is just in fog right like it is so dense with fog you can barely see where you're going it's crazy love that like coming out of the top hat it's just like you don't know where you're going and uh speaking of chris leonard
01:36:04
Speaker
Us says Hershey Park quietly had one of the best events of the last 10 years, which we did touch on. We got more, basically and we got more comments than questions. so Yeah. but Yeah. Honestly, I don't, I don't hate. i Yeah.
01:36:17
Speaker
Yeah. I really do like, and I know we've talked about Hershey a good amount, but like of all of the parks, like for Hershey having such a new event, I say this every single year. This event is what? Three years old now?
01:36:28
Speaker
2022. From year one. so course from year one I was floored by how good that event was. Like, I was expecting, like, three dinky little houses and nothing else for their first year. Like, gauge how how it plays out from there. And is it the best haunt?
01:36:48
Speaker
Absolutely not. But for it being so young, it's just the quality is so good. They do a good job, for sure. And to go back to, like, they also really tried to incorporate, like, the food and beverage well, like...
01:37:03
Speaker
Yeah. Like, I don't... I'm sure that the Six Flags and Old Cedar Fair parks do it too, but, like, I couldn't even name an item at any of those places I've ever been that's specific to their Halloween event.
01:37:15
Speaker
Hershey does it well. Yeah, I don't think... At least Jordy, from my experience, they do drinks, but I don't remember there being, it's like pretzels and chips at most of the places, which is really unfortunate. But they do special drinks, but not everyone wants to drink that type of alcohol a whole event, so it's not as um exciting.
01:37:37
Speaker
But yeah, their food, and every year, Hershey incorporates more and more food. Last year, I think, was the first year they did, through the water park, they did, like, a food truck, like, trail that had all themed food.
01:37:54
Speaker
um
01:37:56
Speaker
yeah they do Love to eat. Yeah, the food is, like, half of the journey to any theme park. It's fantastic. Yeah, I just cannot say enough good things about that park. Like, I think about the first year and, like, I know that this isn't what they do anymore and it's, like, it's not their fault. They had to knock it down. But, like, they took that old theater that was, like, falling apart and just turned it into a maze with people on it. And it was just such a cool, like, taking an area that would have had no use otherwise and is spooky in itself and...
01:38:34
Speaker
I don't know. It was very creative. very Very cool.
01:38:40
Speaker
Sorry. I'm done with my fangirling over Hershey's event. i love a good It's almost like that's what this podcast is for. Yeah. There we go.
01:38:51
Speaker
Let's see. Thrilltography said i enjoy the spooky decorations and vibe but I'm not a person who enjoys jump scares very much. I can relate.
01:39:02
Speaker
It's all about the vibe. Like, I think that's why I like King's Island's haunt so much. They nail the vibe. Like, I could just go and chill and watch people get scared in that park.
01:39:14
Speaker
Yeah. I was pretty impressed by King's Island's haunt, too, actually. Their scare zones were really well done. remember I do like how King's Island and King's Dominion puts the creepy eyes on top of the Eiffel Tower.
01:39:28
Speaker
Yep. That's a good touch. That's so fun. That was a picture I used in my call for comments this week.
01:39:36
Speaker
Solar coaster. I like the leaves on the trees in the night rides. yeah ah dirt the Riding a coasters during the day in the fall. Especially like late October.
01:39:47
Speaker
Peak. and Again, shout out Kings Island. One of the best to do it. ah Beast in the fall. oh Amazing. ah Anyway, I don't like how coasters...
01:40:02
Speaker
Walkthroughs are an upcharge, as we touched on. um Also doesn't like scare zones that much. So back to back, kind of aligned with Allison. Yep. Yeah. um Next we have Mandalorian Mama. That's great name.
01:40:16
Speaker
Yeah, it's a good one. and um She said, love them. Been attending since 2003 at Knott's. um I feel like we didn't touch on Knott's as much as we should have. Has anyone here been at Knott's?
01:40:28
Speaker
Nope. Mike is dying to go Knott's Berry Farm. So I never was until... So for anyone... So we probably... We could have probably gotten into this a little earlier, but like the designers of Knott's Berry Farm... Haunt did Ghost in the Machine Dorney Park. They flew them in because they were using it as like a teaser to Iron Menace before anyone knew what Iron Menace was. And there's a bunch of...
01:40:54
Speaker
um Details built into that scare, that house that hinted to what Iron Menace was, the type of coaster, the theme of the coaster, everything. um And they flew in the Knott's Berry team, the Knott's Berry Farm team, to do that. And after I saw that house, I was lucky enough to get to tour it, like, lights on, um just look at the details of the house three times now.
01:41:19
Speaker
um And after looking at that house, like, Knott's is so high up on my list. it's The level of detail is crazy compared to what the other Cedar Fair parks put out.
01:41:31
Speaker
Yeah. um Well, it's the too. so Oh, I didn't know that. yeah yeah. It's just been doing haunts for, like, ever. didn't know that. Okay. So that kind of makes sense, then. Yeah. And that's, like, the best house at Dorney by far is the Ghost and Machine, the one that Iron Menace is...
01:41:51
Speaker
kind of themed around, that was designed by the Not Scary Farm team. So... Yeah. You could tell. could tell the quality upgrade. Yeah.
01:42:01
Speaker
That's... That's... Yeah. It just...
Halloween Nostalgia and Closing Thoughts
01:42:04
Speaker
I didn't understand that level until going through that house. And then now I'm like, that's not on my list. Like, that quality is... That quality is insane. and like...
01:42:16
Speaker
yeah Kings Island and Cedar Point, the other two Cedar Fair ones I've been to, like, don't touch Ghost in the Machine quality. So.
01:42:30
Speaker
Yeah, that that one at Dorney, when I was there, I was very close to going through that one. It would be the one that i would go through. Yeah, that one, that one's really good. Also, if you guys were curious, you can't go through that house with a wallet or a bag. However, a like 25 pound Talon lamp, they will allow you to go through that with.
01:42:51
Speaker
I have done it. um And I just yelled at scare actors not to touch my lamp. That is wild. Yeah, I was like, I couldn't bring my wristlet. Like I was turned back to my car because my wristlet was like a centimeter too long.
01:43:06
Speaker
but I had 25 pound lamp that they let me in. It had me dying. They didn't touch my lamp. I was gonna lose it.
01:43:16
Speaker
My lamp was touched. All right. um Next we have, oh, I want to read Laurel's. Next we have Laurel XL 200. um She says the most wonderful time of the year. I love the smell of ah of fog and I love the presence of black cats.
01:43:36
Speaker
Shout out thrills on film one. Yeah. Thrills on film one. Also all black cats are named Roscoe after her cat. And Talon cat. Oh, Talon.
01:43:47
Speaker
Okay. Roscoe middle name Talon cat. Sorry. Roscoe was first. And Salem. I gotta shout out our old cat. Oh man. Now there's too many black cats. Black cats are the best.
01:43:59
Speaker
Yes. Hi, Laurel. all I also love the smell of fog, but it it also reminds me of like dance recital. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
01:44:13
Speaker
Yeah, that's that's a heck of a connection there. Yeah. Like, do you get both in your mind or do you only think of dance recital? It depends. The dance recital fog smells a little bit different.
01:44:26
Speaker
Okay. Yeah. Yeah. Similar but different. Like I can differentiate the two in a sniff test for sure. i think it's probably just because the hot fog is outside with other ambient smells. Whereas when you're on stage and the fog machine is like a foot away from you, you're like just inhaling whatever chemicals are coming out of the, you know?
01:44:46
Speaker
Yeah, it's true. So I have to ask then, Kelly, what were your thoughts on the fog and the Wicker Man break run? Nah, it was fine. It just smelled old.
01:44:58
Speaker
Yeah. That ride was kind of a bummer. Yeah. Agreed. It was also a milestone, but I couldn't help it. hu
01:45:09
Speaker
I'm getting a delirious here. Well, on that note, we have one more comment from a Cedar Kev, who i briefly got i ran into him at Canada's Wonderland. Oh, yeah. He was there the same day as you. Yep.
01:45:22
Speaker
So very briefly, said hello. ah He said, Spooky season is my favorite time of year at the parks. I absolutely love the cooler temperatures and the abundance of night rides. Going back the night rides, I wear a hoodie all year round, so I love the cooler temperatures.
01:45:38
Speaker
Yeah, you do. I don't know how you survive.
01:45:43
Speaker
Because they're comfy. I will say, the crowds of haunts can make the night rides, especially when it gets going. Helps to have a fast lane like I know Kevin does.
01:45:55
Speaker
Yeah. And then i like we went to Cedar Point Haunt last year and it was just an overwhelming amount of people. lot. I could not deal. yeah And we have a Cedar Point weekend coming up this month where we're going bunch of us up at Cedar Point Haunt.
01:46:11
Speaker
And I'm probably not going to spend a whole lot of time at Haunt because I know the crowds are going to be stupid.
01:46:19
Speaker
Kind of a reason why i usually don't go to haunts too much because I know the parks are just going to be slammed. Yep. But we have a cabin for a weekend, so we're just going to chill. Fall vibes.
01:46:31
Speaker
Make some hot cocoa. I want to get the order correct. Thrill, chill, and spill. Thrills, chills, and spills. You were missing the plural. The plural.
01:46:44
Speaker
The what? The plurals. thrilled Yeah, but i you said that you were going to chill, so I'm like, you're going thrill, chill, and spill. Got it. but so Chill more than the other two. Unless I spill my drink, which is inevitable.
01:46:59
Speaker
Different kind of spill. Well, Callie was absolutely the right person to have on for this topic. Aw, thanks, guys. of course Yeah, the HHN rundown from memory, i Wow, who else would have been able to do that? that was I was trying to be as brief as possible, too. it was a little painful not to go into more detail.
01:47:18
Speaker
I was so impressed. And then just seeing that you didn't like look at anything the entire time, like you were just zoned in. i was oh
01:47:28
Speaker
my My memory is a skill I've had my whole life, and it's been really helpful in my schooling and career. I'll just say I'm really good at memorizing things.
01:47:42
Speaker
Talent. ah thought you were about to say Talon. Talon at Dorney and drawing park Talon at Dorney Park. yeah Thank you so much for having me. it was really fun. Of course. Thank you for spending a few hours with us.
01:47:57
Speaker
Yeah. It was great. Well, guys, that brings us to the end of the podcast. it's I never know how to end these, but, uh, that's why I always end it by rap is just cutting everyone off with. well Brings us to the end of the episode. like the end we have an official end now.
01:48:20
Speaker
Yeah. That's what I do. Stay spooky. Everyone go enjoy a spooky season. Kelly enjoy Halloween horror nights.
01:48:31
Speaker
Yeah, check out the thrills, spills, and chills part. Oh, you almost had it. Close. Close. Oh, the thrills, spills, spills. Chills, chills, and spills, baby. I will be linking that in the episode description and on social when I post this.
01:48:46
Speaker
Thanks. You're welcome. Until next time. Hashtag whatever. Think inverted. Hashtag think inverted. Hashtag think spooky.
01:48:58
Speaker
Think spooky. Oh, I like that. Yeah.
01:49:02
Speaker
Bye-bye. i e Bye. Bye.